Sharp rise in prices to sell beef to China

While African swine fever, which weighs on the production of this country, kills several million pigs in China, the SIAL show in Shanghai is experiencing a sharp rise in beef prices, a phenomenon they benefit. Argentine refrigerators who participate in the sample with a pavilion of the Argentine Vaccine Meat Promotion Institute (Ipcva).

China is the country with the largest herd of pigs in the world. It had 441.5 million head at the end of 2018 and has fallen to 428 million due to African swine fever. According to some estimates, an additional 150 million heads could be lost. China consumes 54 million tonnes of this meat. To offset the shortfall due to lower production, it imports more pork and, in addition, requires more beef purchases.

In the case of beef, 2 kilograms sold by Argentina are destined for this market. As positive data for the companies that are with the Ipcva in Sial of China, the fair started with values ​​exceeding between 1000 and 1500 dollars per ton the price of the previous edition of the I $ ;sample.

Some of the negotiated values ​​for frozen and boneless meat: cow cover, from $ 5,200 to $ 5,500 per tonne; cow 23 cuts, from $ 5,500 to $ 5,800 per tonne; Garron y Brazuelo, with 5800 to 6200 dollars per ton; cuts of the wheel (ball, square and carnaza), between 6000 and 6200 dollars, and peceto, up to 7000 dollars.

Although prices are higher than last year, another important fact is that the Argentinian companies in the sample have negotiated all available supplies. "Many are only offering containers for August or September this year," Ipcva explained in a report.

"African swine fever has had an impact and the trade crisis between China and the United States has had a significant impact on this market," said Ulises Forte, president of the agency.

"It's a fair with a movement never seen and very good prices," said Jorge Torelli, vice president of the entity.

Forte pointed out that the strong marketing, advertising and training campaign (to the chefs for example) that the organization is conducting in this country has contributed to the positioning of the product and the improvement of prices. Local chef Jaqueline QIU, accompanied by the influential Cheng Lan, led a Chinese cooking clbad with Argentinean beef broadcast live on the Weibo social network. There were nearly 400,000 online subscribers.

The Secretary of the Government of Agribusiness, Luis Miguel Etchevehere, participated a few days ago in the meeting of Sial with the Argentine refrigerators. He asked
"take care" of the "trust" relationship between the two countries of the public and private sectors. A few days ago, Senasa, during a trip by its president Ricardo Negri, managed to standardize a certificate for all meats, which will make business easier.